The Syllabus (Handout#1)

1. OBJECTIVES

This course examines the work of selected middle and late 20^th century social theorists. It highlights some critical debates which have marked the 20^th century and looks at core issues of importance for rethinking society in the new millenium.

The goal is to make students aware of key works in the field and to introduce them to fundamental notions necessary for reading and critically analyzing original works by theorists for eventual use in their own work. As well the course hopes to provide an excellent opportunity for students to reflect on and develop their awareness of their own assumptions and ways of thinking about the nature of social life and social research. In this way they can begin to situate themselves within the rich and varied theoretical traditions of sociological theorists.

Textbooks: Wallace, Ruth and Alison Wolf. Contemporary Sociological Theory. Expanding the Classical Tradition. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1999 (5^th edition).

McQuarie, Donald (editor). Readings in Contemporary Sociological Theory. From Modernity to Post-Modernity. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall 1995.

Other required readings will be assigned and put on Reserve in Vaughan Library or posted on the web.

Web Sites : You will also be asked to work with web sites and on-line publications. Interesting Web Sites are listed in a section below

Grades : The grading in this course focuses heavily on regular reading and class participation. Grades will be based on quizzes and in-class assignments (including participation in round-table discussions), two short term assignments and a final take-home essay-examination. Final grades will be assigned in the following proportions:

-In-class assignments and class participation………………………………30% (must be done in designated class)

-Term Assignments (15% ea.) and web page (10%)………………………..40%

-Final Essay Assignment……….…………………………………………..30%

In-class assignments and class participation: Attendance at all Round Table Discussions is mandatory. Marks will be deducted for absences. In-class assignments will often be given during these classes. Some of these in-class assignments may involve reporting on homework (ex. reading) done outside of class time, others may be about lecture material or class discussions. No marks will be given for in-class papers which are handed in late because one of the goals of this way of assigning marks is to encourage class participation

Term Assignments and Round-Table Presentations: Students are asked to prepare a web page and two short papers related to the assigned readings and to present their work in two Round Table Discussions (See Handout #2 for details). The due dates for the written work will depend on each student’s Round Table dates (to be fixed in the first two weeks of class). The due date for posting web pages is one week before each person’s Round Table Discussion date. The papers are to be handed in before class on the day of each Round Table Discussion.

Final Essay Assignment: Students will be given a final essay-style assignment on March 17^th related to all of the material covered in the course. This final assignment is due on April 5^th.

Office Hours will be held in BAC 311, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 1:30- 2:30 p.m., or by appointment.

This is a preliminary schedule intended to help you plan your study schedule. Changes to this schedule will be announced in class. It does not include all of the readings, only those from your textbooks. Additional required readings will be assigned.

(WW=Wallace & Wolf, McQ=McQuarie)

Copies of Course Handouts and Lecture Outlines

In response to popular requests I have put files with the course handouts and the powerpoint lecture outlines on Plato server (drive P) at the following address:

P:\COURSES\SOCI\Marontate\Soci3013

This is not a hyperlink. One good way to access these files is to open Windows Explorer (it has a yellow file folder with a magnifing class as the icon). Then look in the Plato server (P:) under "COURSES" and follow the trail (choose SOCI then my name then the course number). These are read-only files which you can copy and put on a disk or on your computer to use (in case you want to add your class notes etc..).

Note that the Powerpoint lectures only contain a skeletal outline of lecture material covered in class. They do not contain all the material covered in the lectures. They are intended as a guide for notetaking during class and are not a substitute for attending class. They also do not contain information related to demonstrations or to discussions.